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Monday, November 24, 2014

Aloe anticipation at UC Davis

The University of California Davis campus has several aloe hot spots (see this post from February). Curious to find out whether any of their aloes are flowering yet, I decided to go on a little outing yesterday. (Weekends are best for a campus visit since parking is free.)

As always, I parked next to the Botanical Conservatory greenhouses and began my walk there. This is what I found.

The flower spikes on the tall Aloe littoralis in front of the greenhouse are further along than I’d thought…

…while this Aloe littoralis…

…is just starting

Aloe arborescens (yellow-flowering form) looked fantastic already

Aloe arborescens (yellow-flowering form)

Aloe arborescens (regular red-flowering form) is a bit further behind

I noticed weird deposits on this Aloe arborescens. I think it’s just paint splatter. They must have repainted the greenhouse windows over the summer.

My next stop was the Cycad Garden in front of Storer Hall. Not much blooming here yet.

No sign of flowering yet, but still beautiful: Aloe comosa (next to Encephalartos horridus)

Aloe melanacantha

Aloe camperi ‘Cornuta’ cuttings waiting to be planted. It looks a bit like an aloe cemetery!

From Storer Hall I took the path between the Sciences Lab Building and Haring Hall. This planting area has quite a few aloes. The only one blooming right now is Aloe suprafoliata.

And finally the plantings in front of the Sciences Lab Building along Hutchison Drive. None of the aloes are blooming yet, although I found an emerging flower stalk on what is possibly a hybrid between Aloe striata and Aloe buhri (as per Ernesto Sandoval, the director of the Botanical Conversatory).

Aloes next to Sciences Lab Building

Left: Aloe ferox Middle: Aloe marlothii Right: Aloe comosa

Possible Aloe striata × buhrii hybrid

This area has lots of cool plants. I was glad to see Echium wildpretii growing in various places. I’ll be back in May to photograph these towers of jewels in full bloom.

Aloe mitriformis and tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii)

Aloe × spinosissima and tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii)

Agave victoria-reginae in front of Echium candicans ‘Star of Madeira’

The peak of the aloe flowering season is still a couple of months away. This gives you plenty of time to plan a trip in late January or early February. Davis is only 1½ hours from San Francisco or 2 hours from San Jose.

I’d like to thank Ernesto Sandoval for helping me ID several of the aloes you see in this post.